Posted by Sean Chisham on January 02, 2002 at 22:33:01:
In Reply to: Beta Blockers posted by Geoff on January 02, 2002 at 20:58:26:
Disclaimer, I am not a doctor and know nothing about medicine. Consult your doctor for all medical advice. Following my recommendations may lead to serious medical problems, including death and spontanious human combustion. Do not use the following information for treatment. Only consult your doctor.
Now that that is out of the way. Nothing over the counter that I know of works like propranolol. Depending on the size of the tablets, 10 should be enough to last a long long long time. You only need 20-50mg or so to get the benefit. Heart patients take much higher dosages, but the side effects of that elevated dosage is not good for musicians. The smaller dosage brings the heart rate and blood pressure back down to more normal levels for people who experience severe physiologic symptoms of performance anxiety in highly stressful situations such as auditions. It is done by blocking the nerves that stimulate the heart to beat faster.
Beta blockers don't make you play better, they simply prevent the dehabilitating side effects of performance anxiety for those with acute symptoms. They do have side effects which don't make them good for common use. These side effect include headaches, dry mouth, chest constriction, drug interactions, etc. They really are only efficient for specific situations which only come around once or twice per year at most. Those 10 tablets may expire before they are exhausted.
sean